Water and Ramsar:
An integrating framework for Ramsar’s suite of water-related guidance
FOURTH DRAFT: 22 FEBRUARY 2005
Prepared by STRP Working Group 3
Contents
1.Water and Ramsar – an overview
1.1.Why does Ramsar need to be concerned about water ?
1.2.Why do water managers need to be involved with Ramsar ?
1.3.Why do wetland managers need to be involved in water management?
2.Ramsar’s suite of resolutions and guidance in relation to the hydrological cycle
3.Water in the environment
3.1.The hydrological cycle supports and links all components of the environment
3.2.The hydrological cycle is regulated by ecological processes
3.3.Changes in the broader environment affect water
3.4.Impacts on ecosystems in one part of the hydrological cycle can be propagated to others (often with unforeseen results)
4.Water resources management in the context of the hydrological cycle
4.1.Water: an integral part of ecosystems
4.2.Sufficient and reliable supplies of good quality water depend on healthy, functioning ecosystems
4.3.Water resources management needs cross-sectoral policy, governance and institutional processes
4.4.Ramsar’s role in integrated water resources management
4.5.Principles for development and implementation of Ramsar’s water-related guidance
5.A proposed framework for Ramsar’s water-related guidance
6.Ramsar resolutions and guidance related directly to water
6.1.Brief descriptions of water-related resolutions and guidance documents
7.Ongoing development of the framework for water-related guidance
Appendices:
1. Additional guidance on integrating wetlands into river basin management
2. Additional guidance on determination and implementation of water allocations for wetland ecosystems
3. Guidance on management of groundwater-associated wetlands
1. Water and Ramsar – an overview
1.1. Why does Ramsar need to be concerned about water ?
The hydrological cycle operates at various levels, from planetary through continental scales to river basins and catchments. Wetland ecosystems, in their many shapes, sizes and characters, are integral components of the hydrological cycle, and are critically important in regulating the quantity, quality and reliability of water as it moves in its various forms (vapour, liquid, ice or snow) through the hydrological cycle.
Wetland ecosystems evolve and function within particular physical templates, the characteristics of which are determined primarily by the interaction between water and sediment. Water carves out channels, valleys and basins; sediment moves through these, sometimes accumulating, sometimes being flushed out by flowing water. The constant interplay between sediment and water has created and continues to create a diverse range of aquatic habitats, both on the land surface in rivers, estuaries, marshes and lakes, and beneath it in caves and aquifers. Chemistry modifies these habitats, as rocks and sediments are weathered and influence the range of different chemical signatures that water can display in the environment. People and biodiversity find their preferred places in this rich array of physical and chemical combinations, creating links between themselves and their habitat, and then in turn modifying their habitat or creating new habitats, through various physical, biochemical and ecological processes (such as nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis and decomposition).
Over-abstraction of water from wetlands, from the water catchments in which they occur, pollution of the water which feeds them, can all lead to significant changes in wetland ecological processes. These usually lead to changes in the physical and chemical habitat templates and a resulting, generally irreversible, loss of biodiversity. No amount of careful land management or vegetation management can mitigate these changes. Wetland ecosystems need water, in the right amount, at the right time, and of the right quality.
No water, no wetlands.
1.2. Why do water managers need to be involved with Ramsar ?
Most of the water which is utilised to meet human needs is extracted in the liquid form from surface water resources and groundwater bodies. While some fresh water is obtained through techniques such as fog harvesting and desalination, this currently serves only a small percentage of people’s needs. The quantity, quality and reliability of fresh surface water and groundwater supplies are determined by the nature of the wetland ecosystems within which that water is found. Changes to wetland ecosystems, particularly to their structure and function, can lead to significant changes in the flow patterns and chemical and microbiological signatures of water resources. Changes in water resources, particularly in their predictability, can have profound impacts for the people who depend on those resources for basic drinking water, sanitation, food production, economic production and maintenance of social and cultural integrity.
If water managers are to be able to provide water and water-related services to the people of the world on a sustainable basis, then water resources need to be managed and protected in a way that recognises these resources as an integral part of the complex ecosystems that sustain them. Wetland ecosystems are the primary resources from which water and all its benefits for man are derived, and are a major and critical component of the hydrological cycle which keeps us supplied with water. Protecting wetland ecosystems is as essential to people’s survival as is wise utilisation of the water and water-related benefits that wetland ecosystems provide.
While the Ramsar Convention does not directly address all of the components of the hydrological cycle (such as atmospheric, terrestrial and marine), the Convention’s scope certainly includes those components (surface and subterranean aquatic ecosystems) that are most important for ensuring water for people. Since its establishment in 1971, the Ramsar Convention has provided an array of practical tools and guidance that are intended to support the protection and wise use of wetland ecosystems, and through this to underpin the protection and wise use of water resources.
No wetlands, no water.
1.3. Why do wetland managers need to be involved in water management?
In order to maintain a desired level of ecological health and function, wetlands require sufficient water of adequate quality, at the right time and in the right pattern. This means that the water requirements of wetlands, whether these requirements are to be met from surface runoff or groundwater, must be taken into account in any plan for abstraction of water from a river basin or discharge of water or waste into a river basin. Water users may have water requirements that conflict with those of wetlands; alternatively, water users’ needs may be dependent on the maintenance of wetland ecological character. There may be opportunities for achieving significant ecological, social and economic benefits as a result of negotiating tradeoffs and different ways of sharing the benefits of water (including ecosystem products and services), rather than sharing just the water itself. If the needs of wetlands are to be adequately integrated into water resources management planning and implementation, then wetland managers must enter the “water debate” and get involved, through co-operative planning and management processes, in water allocation and water management decision-making.
2. Ramsar’s suite of resolutions and guidance in relation to the hydrological cycle
The Ramsar Convention has always recognised the interdependence between people, water resources and wetland ecosystems. The opening points of the Convention text refer to “the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands as regulators of water regimes”. Article 2 of the Convention states that “international significance in….hydrology” is one of the criteria on which wetlands should be selected for the Ramsar List.
The Convention has addressed water issues indirectly since its establishment in 1971, primarily through resolutions and guidance related to maintaining the ecological character of wetlands. However, until COP6 in 1996, water for maintaining wetland ecosystem functions and ecological character was treated as an external factor; seen as beyond the scope of the Convention and generally outside the control or influence of wetland managers. The acceptance of Resolution VI.23: Ramsar and Water by the Contracting Parties marked a significant step forward, for the first time making explicit the recognition that (a) water resources management is dependent to a large degree on the hydrological functions of wetlands, and (b) wetland ecosystems need a certain amount of water allocated for maintenance of ecological character, in order to maintain these hydrological functions.
In order to support the development of policy and practice for implementing this perspective, Ramsar needed to become “an audible voice in water debates” at community level, at national level and at global level. To ensure that Ramsar’s voice is not only audible, but practical, realistic and based on sound science, a growing suite of guidance related specifically to water issues has been adopted by the Contracting Parties, and is planned for the future. It is worth noting, however, that almost all of Ramsar’s resolutions and guidance have addressed water issues in some way, whether directly, indirectly or peripherally, since wetlands and water cannot be separated. The major cross-linkages are indicated in section 6 of this document, which provides a framework for the relationships between the various sets of guidance.
It is important to note that Ramsar’s water-related guidance is not intended to lead or drive the formulation and implementation of core water sector policy regarding water services and water resources management. Rather, the intention is to provide guidance primarily for agencies and organisations responsible for management of wetland ecosystems, but in the context of the “water debate”. Such guidance should promote improved understanding of water sector issues by the wetlands sector, and vice versa, and should support collaboration between the water and wetlands sectors. The goal of improved understanding and collaboration between the two sectors should be twofold: protection and wise use of wetland ecosystems, as well as protection and maintenance of a range of ecosystem-dependent goods and services from water resources.
Ramsar’s scope and mandate does not include all components of the hydrological cycle (i.e. atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, subterranean and marine), being limited to aquatic, subterranean and coastal marine wetland ecosystems. However, Ramsar’s water-related guidance does need to take cognisance of, and ensure integration with, other conventions, frameworks, initiatives and activities that affect the hydrological cycle in some way.
3. Water in the environment
3.1. The hydrological cycle supports and links all components of the environment
The broader biophysical environment is composed of the marine environment, the terrestrial environment (which includes the unsaturated zone of the soil horizon), the aquatic environment, the subterranean environment (which includes aquifers, cave systems and the saturated zone of the soil horizon) and the atmospheric environment. The hydrological cycle (Figure 1) links all these components of the broader environment, and this means that water resources are linked, via the water itself, to all the other components of the broader environment (such as soil, biota, vegetation, air).
Water itself appears in various forms in the environment, reflecting the different phases of the hydrological cycle:
- In atmospheric ecosystems, water is generally found in the vapour or liquid form, or may occur temporarily in the solid form as hail or snow.
- In terrestrial ecosystems, water may be found in vegetation and/or the unsaturated zone of the soil horizon and be part of the evapo-transpiration cycle – the term “green water” has been recently adopted to describe water in this aspect[1].
- Water in aquatic, marine and subterranean ecosystems appears in its liquid form, where it is usually termed “blue water” – this includes water held in aquifers, or in the saturated zone of the soil horizon. In the context of this background paper, aquatic ecosystems are those in which water is generally fresh or brackish (but may include hypersaline inland systems). Coastal marine ecosystems include the estuarine and nearshore marine aspects of water, while the offshore marine ecosystem’s primary influence on the hydrological cycle is through global, continental and regional weather patterns.
- Water as ice tends to be common to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and when held in glaciers and ice sheets forms a kind of bridge between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
3.2. The hydrological cycle is regulated by ecological processes
There are biophysical, biochemical and ecological links within and between each of the components comprising the hydrological cycle. Ecological processes play a critical role in regulating the hydrological cycle, and are themselves affected by biophysical and biochemical processes occurring within the hydrological cycle. Here, the structural, functional and compositional aspects of biodiversity play a variety of roles, at several different scales, in governing linkages within and between the components of the hydrological cycle. In addition, ecological functions and processes occurring within the hydrological cycle both affect the humans who are part of the associated social system, and are affected by human activities.
3.3. Changes in the broader environment affect water
Water in the hydrological cycle is also affected by natural and human-induced processes of change to land, water and wetlands. These can be due to changes in the topography and morphology of the landscape, which primarily affect the “blue water” component of the hydrological cycle, or due to changes in vegetation and land cover, which primarily impact on “green water” through affecting infiltration and evapotranspiration rates and patterns. Changes in land and water environments affect the rates and pathways by which water moves within the hydrological cycle, and also affect the quality of the water in its various forms and places.
3.4. Impacts on ecosystems in one part of the hydrological cycle can be propagated to others (often with unforeseen results)
The point of the rather simplistic breakdown in Figure 1 of the hydrological cycle into different components (atmospheric, marine, aquatic, terrestrial and subterranean) is that a disturbance or perturbation in one component of the hydrological cycle, whether natural or as a result of a direct human-induced impact, can be propagated via indirect impacts to terrestrial, aquatic and marine components. Figure 1 indicates this, without showing the real-life complexity of feedback loops and higher-order effects. The connections between the hydrological cycle and the broader environment are bi-directional, in that direct impacts on the non-water aspect of the environment can affect water, while direct impacts on water (such as abstraction or waste discharge) can affect the broader environment as well.
Figure 1: Phases of the Hydrological Cycle, showing the inter-relationships between environmental components and the so-called “blue” and “green” water components of the hydrological cycle, where “blue water” refers to all water that is controlled by physical processes and “green water” is the water that is influenced by biological processes such as evapo-transpiration by vegetation. Note that aquatic ecosystems include all surface water aquatic systems, i.e. riverine, palustrine, marsh and estuarine ecosystems as well as subterranean systems. From WRC (2004)[2].
4. Water resources management in the context of the hydrological cycle
4.1. Water: an integral part of ecosystems
In most countries, the conventional water sector deals with water primarily as a commodity. From this point of view, water, while it may be provided by and is integral to an ecosystem, is usually delivered to people through some kind of infrastructure such as dams, pumps and pipes. The water is often utilised for agricultural production, industrial production, energy production or human consumption outside the ecosystem from which it was derived. The problem with the conventional approach to management of water as a commodity is that many of the values which humans place on water, aside from just having an adequate supply when they turn on a tap, are dependent on that water being a component of a healthy, functional ecosystem. Thus better connections need to be made between water supply and the water resources which are the origin of that supply.
4.2. Sufficient and reliable supplies of good quality water depend on healthy, functioning ecosystems
In addition to water supply for offstream use, humans have many uses for water as an integral part of ecosystems. These include maintenance of a supply of food, fibre and timber products, transport, recreation, support of cultural and spiritual practices, purification and removal of some kinds of wastes. Ecosystems, particularly those in which water is a critical component or the main component, are resilient and can withstand a certain degree of impact, including abstraction of water, abstraction of food and fibre resources, discharge of waste or modification of the biophysical and biochemical template. However, such disturbances have finite limits: exceeding these limits changes the structure and function of an ecosystem irreversibly, leading to irreparable changes in the range, availability and quality of the products and services which the ecosystem formerly provided, such as a predictable supply of water of good quality, or a certain stock of fish resources. Such changes in ecosystem products and services are usually irreversible and non-manageable.
4.3. Water resources management needs cross-sectoral policy, governance and institutional processes
Human activities impact ecosystems at different places in the hydrological cycle, and thus impact water itself. Hence the water sector needs to manage water resources in the context of ecosystem management, in order to sustain the values, benefits and services of water for both instream and offstream uses. From both government and governance points of view, this requires either removal of the artificial boundaries between the environment sector, the water sector and other relevant sectors, or very close co-operation between environment, water and related sectors. This is where the issue of co-operative governance becomes so important: the responsible agencies must share common objectives for the management of water throughout the hydrological cycle, and must act accordingly; otherwise, their interventions will, at best, be less effective than they could, and at worst, may even be in conflict. These common objectives should be largely defined by the people and societies dependent on the water resources, which requires that governance of water resources be underpinned by institutional structures and processes which ensure that the voice of civil society is integral to planning and decision-making on water issues.